


What Starts Today

by prettypurpleflower



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-28
Updated: 2015-06-28
Packaged: 2018-04-06 15:17:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4226811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prettypurpleflower/pseuds/prettypurpleflower
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Barry is confronted with the reality of Leonard Snart being more than a cardboard cut-out of a criminal, he makes a rash decision that has unpredictable consequences for him. Like drinks and this smirk that just won't leave Snart's face all of a sudden.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What Starts Today

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into 中文 available: [始於今日之一切（translation of 'What Starts Today'）](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8335090) by [AshuraXuan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshuraXuan/pseuds/AshuraXuan)



> A big thank you to coldflashtrash over on tumblr for always bringing inspiration when it's much needed and especially for being so encouraging about this little story here.
> 
> In celebration of marriage equality in so many places because I needed to let my happy feelings out somehow.

The electronics store currently topped Barry’s list of most annoying places to fight at. Especially if it involved the Rogues. It was a pain to avoid all the shelves, making it as good as impossible for him to gain the necessary speed without knocking everything over, and the displayed TVs, all running on the same news channel, were a constant buzzing distraction.

Even if Heatwave hadn’t gotten anything to explode yet, his uncontrolled shooting had probably already melted the insides of half the devices and consequently rendered them useless. And that was just the damage done without mentioning Captain Cold icing the alarm system or Golden Glider randomly turning TVs and laptops into shiny trophies.

It didn’t even make sense to Barry that they chose _this_ for their latest heist, there was nothing valuable enough to get there – out of Barry’s price range, yes, but definitely not in one league with their usual banks and museums. It was mostly just small pieces and easy to destroy and…

_Of course, that was the point all along!_

Barry shook his head, incredulous about the dramatics of the Rogues. So much chaos because they were _bored_.

The ice stream grazed his arm and he zigzagged into the opposite direction faster than the three criminals could even blink, his heart beating wildly and it was… He had to admit it was a thrill. He might have trusted them once and payed for it, but at least it could be said that Snart had kept to their deal and hadn’t killed anymore.

Out of all the lasting enemies Barry had gathered by now, the Rogues were one of the lesser evils. They were smart – well, Cold was at least – and could kill him with their guns in a snap, but the difference was that they _wouldn’t_. Barry was sure of it. Fighting him seemed too much _fun_ to them at the very least.

Deep in thought, he almost crashed into Lisa, who had stopped moving right in his path. Simply stopped moving. Her eyes wide and mouth agape, she breathed out a sound of surprised that drowned in the noise of the ruckus.

‘Lenny, look.’

‘Sis, we’re in the middle-‘

‘ _Lenny, look_ ,’ she urged him again, more forceful than before. So forceful that everyone in the room stopped moving to look at _her_ in confusion. She nodded at the row of TVs, two completely golden, one only showing static, but the rest were still airing the news.

Then, finally, the banner running on the bottom caught Barry’s eye.

_‘Historic day for human rights: Marriage equality in all 50 states’_

For a second it felt as if all air had gotten knocked out of him.

Try as he might it wasn’t sinking in.

When he focused on Snart again he was hit by the next baffling surprise.

All color had drained from his face and he… Barry could swear he was honest to God shaking. Never before had he seen his usually so cool and collected enemy losing control over his feelings like this.

Joy and anger and relief… How did this weird mixture of opposite emotions even make sense? Or was Barry interpreting it wrong?

Until Snart’s eyes flickered over to him and he got it.

_This is important to him. He’s just angry it’s happening in front of me._

Barry stood eerily still, his expression softening.

He thought about saying something, reassuring Snart that would be the last person to make fun of him. In the end it didn’t matter.

This was _huge_.

First he swallowed drily, then he cleared his throat for good measure, not able to believe what he was about to do.

'We all know you did this heist out of boredom. So if I get distracted for a minute and look the other way, it would be nobody's fault if you took the chance to get away. And if you wanted to hide in plain sight in a bar, drinking a beer in celebration, I wouldn't know anything about that and therefore couldn’t tell anybody where you went.'

Snart stared at him, his face a blank mask again. Regret started rising inside of him, his stomach churning – but Barry didn’t take the offer back.

Instead he slowly turned towards the window, leaving the route to the door completely unguarded.

He was utterly on edge, his heart hammering so hard in his chest that he feared for a moment it might fail him.

Something stirred behind him and drew his attention to the window after all, and realization hit him.

_Their reflections._

But what he saw wasn’t as encouraging as he had hoped. Far from it. It was Rory’s fire spying gun trained right at him. If the man decided to pull the trigger, Barry doubted he’d be able to react fast enough. And wasn’t that a humbling thought?

Suddenly Snart shook his head, just once. Rory’s expression morphed into an angry frown as he lowered the gun and he stomped unmistakably fuming to the exit door, Snart on his heels.

Only Lisa was still standing there, looking straight at the reflection of _Barry_. She knew he had seen it all.

He didn’t have time to consider the implications of any of it though, she simply blew him a kiss before she disappeared as well. And then Barry was alone in the middle of a half destroyed electronics store.

A shiver ran through him, the adrenaline still running high.

Barry groaned.

He would have so much explaining to do when he got back to S.T.A.R. labs.

 

~

 

'Man, I still don't get why we just walked away. Flash turned his back on us, I could have seen him burn. I’ve heard his suit is made out of tripu… trypo… out of something special and I could have been the first person to see that burn,' Mick said, sounding nearly wistful.

'No. Remember, no killing innocent people and we leave the Flash be until he gets in our way. We provoked this encounter today.'

Mick huffed and shook his head uncomprehendingly. Taking a sip from her beer, Lisa rolled her eyes at him.

'Just go pick up some poor naive girl, Mick.'

A deep frown on his face, it was obvious he wasn’t getting it, but eventually he did stand up and leave the table.

Len looked at his glass, to an outsider it might have seemed as if the small ice cubes floating on the surface of his rum and coke were the most fascinating thing to him. He could feel Lisa's eyes on him, but instead of speaking up he waited for her to take the first step. She didn’t disappoint.

'The Flash is too nice for his own good. This recklessness will get him killed one day.'

'Probably.'

She contemplated him a bit longer before she grabbed his hand.

'This is amazing, Lenny. You can get married now. And don't even deny it, I'm your sister, I know that some part of that lump of ice doctors might call a heart wanted marriage to be a possibility.'

He raised his eyebrows at her.

_Better leave the puns to me, sis._

'Did two beers make you drunk enough to let you forget that marriage needs two people?'

'Details.'

'Who cares that it's legal now. I'd probably fuck it up just as much as...' Len broke off abruptly and glared at his drink. Maybe Lisa wasn't drunk, but he definitely didn't like how loose his tongue was turning.

'You won't. You already raised me and that turned out fantastic,' Lisa said, her voice full of conviction. It made Len snort out a short laugh. A lack of self-confidence had stopped being one of Lisa's problems years ago and maybe he should be more grateful for that than he usual was.

Wasn't it fascinating how fast you started taking some things for granted?

Maybe the thing was that he just didn't want to remember a Lisa that was miserable and self-conscious, that shied away from boys and only ever expected bruises from any fast movement.

Len shook his head, almost as if he was trying to shake off all thoughts like a wet dog shook off the rain.

Finally he looked back up at his sister and raised his glass in a toast.

'To this shitty country finally doing something right.'

'To the Flash, for suggesting to get drunk on this fine day.'

They clinked their drinks together and took a sip.

Letting his eyes sweep absentmindedly over the crowds celebrating at the bar, Len's lips turned up in an astonished grin.

_To the Flash, what an odd thing to say._

~

 

Barry couldn’t stop himself from laughing at Cisco’s wild gestures, how he almost knocked over Iris, who had been nodding enthusiastically up until that point and now retaliated with a playful hit to his shoulder.

‘Oh, over there!’ Caitlin chimed in, her grip on Cisco’s arm clearly a bit on the tight side.

With a quiet sigh Barry looked up. The bar could have been an exact copy of the last one they’d been at, but since alcohol had turned useless for him he’d lost the excitement for activities like bar hopping a bit.

It was still fun in its own way, though. And they had had the idea because of him, how could Barry be anything but appreciative?

Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder.

‘Everything alright?’

Eddie. One arm slung around Iris, his cheeks still rosy from their last few stops and a calm but friendly smile on his lips.

‘Yeah, I’m fine. I really am.’ Iris stared at him expectantly, not believing a word.

‘I was just thinking about how much money I’ve spent on drinks that have absolute no effect on me.’

‘What are a few bucks thrown out the window for the news that you will get one of _these_ one day?’ Iris asked, waving her hand in front of Barry’s face to proudly display her engagement ring once more as if he hadn’t been aware of its existence yet.

‘I don’t know, it’s a bit small for my taste. Go big or go home.’ Barry shrugged, teasing, and both Eddie and Iris started laughing. She stopped, still grinning widely as she leaned over and pressed a soft kiss on her fiancé’s cheek.

‘Don’t listen, it’s perfect.’

They kept walking in silence for a moment, but right in front of the door Barry paused.

‘You know this doesn’t change that much for me. I might still never get married. Because-‘

‘Because it’s not the certificate that makes a family, yes, I know. But I have a feeling you will,’ she replied, a gentle finality in her tone that made him swallow drily. More a fact than just a product of her imagination, still surreal and hard to process.

‘Let’s drink to that!’ Cisco shouted, throwing his arms into the air in excitement.

The bar was packed, which wasn’t too surprising. When they finally found a free table and a waitress made her way over to them, Barry let himself fall down onto a chair with a relieved groan. Slowly but surely he was running out of energy.

Cisco bounced in his seat, coming dangerously close to tipping his chair over. Definitely no energy problem for him in sight.

‘It makes you wonder if it’s the sugar, the alcohol or just Cisco, doesn’t it?’ Caitlin whispered next Barry, startling him the tiniest bit.

‘It really does.’

‘I’d love to find out but he refuses to give me a blood sample.’

Much to his amusement Caitlin’s expression turned into a mournful pout, entirely put off that her best friend wasn’t willing to make that sacrifice.

‘We need lots and lots of beer. And five tequila shots. Because you know what? My friend here does not have to hope his next unfortunate crush is a woman. Wait, that came out wrong. Not the person he’s crushing on is unfortunate, the situation is unfortunate. Because he’s such a mess. A nice mess.’

‘What Cisco is saying is that our Barry here can now get married no matter who he dates and that means we need lots of alcohol,’ Iris explained, grinning at Barry instead of the waitress.

‘That is literally what I said.’

Eddie narrowed his eyes in doubt.

‘I don’t think that’s what you said.’

To Barry’s relief the waitress didn’t seem too perturbed by their chaotic behavior despite her obvious exhaustion. She even spared him a small smile while she wrote down their order – nonetheless how she had been able to translate any of Cisco’s rambling into a concrete order was a mystery to Barry.

As his friends chattered on Barry took in the room. So many people, so many rainbows. He had noticed it before – flags, shirts, wristbands. A warm feeling spread inside of him every time he thought about the fact that all these bars weren’t only busy because it was Saturday, they were busy because of _marriage equality_.

Suddenly his gaze stuck on a table in the corner to his right.

That was… Leonard Snart. Leonard Snart as in Captain Cold the criminal. Deep in conversation with his equally criminal baby sister.

It was weird to see them like that, without their gear but instead entirely at ease in a crowded bar.

Then Snart turned his head and looked directly at Barry.

For the fraction of a second his eyes widened in surprise before his expression turned into a smirk.

Suddenly Snart raised his glass and nodded at him, a silent and absolutely unexpected toast.

Not at all sure how he was supposed to react, Barry nodded back almost as if on autopilot.

He stared, lost in thought, until Snart raised an eyebrow at him, not even trying to hide his amusement. Immediately Barry felt heat rising to his cheeks. He quickly averted his eyes, embarrassed to his bones.

What were the chances to meet them here anyway, right at this bar?

Although some part of him was simply glad they hadn’t just taken advantage of him to escape to some safe house. But chances of that hadn’t been high, considering how overwhelmed Snart had seemed.

When Barry tried to sneak another peek at the corner table, the siblings had vanished.

_Probably better that way_.

But still… Somehow Barry couldn’t help but hope they hadn’t felt the need to escape the bar because of him and his friends, not today.

Today was just for both of them to be happy. To celebrate.

A few minutes later the waitress appeared at their table again and set a cocktail down in front of Barry.

‘Uh, I didn’t…’ He drifted off, staring at it with a confused frown.

The glass rimmed with something that looked like ice crystals but were probably just coconut flakes and the drink itself an unhealthy light blue color – Barry didn’t even have the slightest clue what it was.

‘It’s from that guy over there.’ She made a vague gesture pointing behind her, which caused Iris and Cisco to clap in excitement. Meanwhile Caitlin and Eddie were attempting to find out who Barry’s admirer was by leaning far to the sides of their chairs to get a glimpse.

Barry moved to take the glass but jerked his hand back the second he actually touched it. He threw an accusatory glance at the bored waitress.

‘The glass is straight out the freezer. It’s a Snowflake.’

‘A Snowflake? Do you know how expensive that probably was? There’s champagne in it,’ Caitlin breathed out, shocked.

‘And who exactly was it from again?’  
The waitress turned around with a tired sigh, but Barry already knew what her response would be.

‘Oh, he’s gone,’ she said, her voice betraying the tiniest bit of uncertainty and surprise.

A hysterical chuckle bubbled up in Barry but it stuck in his throat.

_Snowflake_. _A pun in a glass._

 

~

 

Barry ran, left to right and back again, the steady stream of ice from the Cold Gun just on his tails.

He ducked behind a sculpture, a weird modern piece made out of granite that didn’t seem to resemble anything clearly and probably still cost more than a small fortune – Barry could only pray that Snart had turned the setting on his gun low enough so the stone wouldn’t crack. Better this than the glass cases from which Barry had systematically baited the Rogues away, though. If he kept drawing all attention to himself long enough for the police to arrive, things would be fine.

‘This isn’t leading anywhere, you may as well just give up’ Barry called out, assessing his possibilities before he zoomed out of hiding again.

‘You do know Lisa left with the whole exhibition already, right? You lost, Scarlet.’

Barry screeched to a halt and almost toppled over from the force of his own movement in the process. He whipped his head around, scanning the room, but Snart was right. They were alone, all the showcases empty. He cursed.

‘That’s it then, a pleasure as always,’ Snart said in a mocking tone and shouldered his gun.

‘I can’t just let you go, Cold.’ The instant the words left his mouth Barry knew they were pure hypocrisy, he had let him go last time after all and the smirk on Snart’s face was enough proof that he hadn’t forgotten it, either.

‘Is that so?’

Flustered, Barry pressed a hand against his neck, feeling the tension beneath his fingertips even through the suit.

‘Last time was… an exception.’

‘So you won’t turn around again while I walk out?’

Snart made a step towards him.

‘Definitely not.’

A chuckle.

‘How cold of you, Barry.’

Barry bit his lip. This wasn’t going well. First he’d lost track of Lisa and now this.

_I can’t let him just walk away. Can I?_

Things had changed since the last time, _Barry_ had changed them and now he had to live with the consequences. Like that glint in Snart’s eyes that hadn’t been there before, or how his smirk seemed less sinister and more… cocky now. And Barry just didn’t get what his angle was.

He moved his hand slowly to his ear, the faint noise of Cisco munching on some thankfully not crunchy candy always following him. Sending a silent apology to his friend, Barry turned his link to S.T.A.R. labs off.

‘I think you owe me a drink.’

‘What? You can’t buy someone a drink and then act like it creates some sort of debt,’ Barry hissed, outraged that Snart thought that was actually the case and disappointed in himself for accepting what was _of course_ meant as a bribe. Barry wanted to kick himself.

But Snart only rolled his eyes at him.

‘Not what I meant. I believe you do owe me a celebratory drink for _winning_ today.’

Immediately Barry’s anger deflated again. Didn’t mean he suddenly liked what he was hearing.

‘This isn’t a game, Snart.’

Another three confident strides and Snart was standing in front of him, that ridiculous smirk on his face again. Against his will the corners of Barry’s mouth twitched.

_Stop finding this fun, Allen, he’s still a criminal._

‘It is now, Snowflake.’

Before he could stop himself he had already made the mistake of responding.

‘One drink, that’s all you get.’

 

 


End file.
